Rhene

The Gorgon

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  ///// Rhene

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  She is a Child of The Sun

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  ///// Gorgon

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  Monstrous
  Woman
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  The woman was composed of both feminine beauty, and monstrous traits. A looming form, willowy and strong, with olive toned skin kissed with soft murky greens. In place of hair, the Gorgon's head writhed with serpents, two dozen of them, with cold unblinking eyes and flicking tongues, and spade shaped heads that were fair warning to the danger they alone presented. Her eyes, a blue so pale they seemed nearly silver, were nearly always hidden by a blindfold. One should pray, that they always remained as such. If one looked beyond the twisting venomous snakes, they would find features of classic beauty. She had high cheekbones, and an near perfect greek nose. She wore little, beyond perhaps decorating herself with jewels and baubles. Her breasts were a bit beyond a handful, and stood high and proud with only the slightest bit of natural droop to them. They were left bare more often than not, only occasionally covered with a wrap of some sort when decency dictated it a necessity. From the hips down, a human body became that of a snake. Green scaled with large oval shaped connected patterns down the center of her serpentine spine. Just over twenty foot of powerful coils, thicker than her waist through much of it's length, and powerful enough to easily crush prey, or anyone foolish enough to wind up entwined there.
  
  
  
  
  

  Cursed
  Sun priestess
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  Lips that had once praised the sun god, now more often than not held a cold frown. Flesh that had once been loved by solar rays, was now condemned to so often be hidden away. Cursed. Once a blessed priestess of Ilifos, now a twisted monster doomed to solitude. Gorgon, beastly woman, who's gaze had turned countless men and women to stone. She was a monster, or had been at least. She lived a quieter life now, her anger cooled, and she had long since accepted her fate. She was ancient, as immortality was part of her curse. All that she had known was lost to ages past, and she had seen the rise and fall of nations, as centuries crawled by. The world itself changed, and she remained the same, frozen in time. Writhing serpents moved with a mind of their own, each with a dangerous bite, although the woman's own fangs were far deadlier. Her words too, could be laced with venom. Beautiful, but dangerous. Fierce and proud, with the palest of eyes like the icy heart of winter, blind by choice behind a dark covering. She was a dark and wicked thing, made so against her own will, and yet there was a sadness and longing lingering there, for even the most dreadful of creatures get lonely.
  
  
  

  ///BASICSTATS

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  ☀ Alias [Maera] ☀ Race [Gorgon] ☀ Birth season [Fall] ☀ Gender [Female]

  ☀ Height [6'6''] ☀ Length [30'2'' ground to tail / 36'8'' tip to tail] ☀ Weight [882lbs] ☀ Hair [25 Snakes, all brownish green, act as a way for her to see without seeing]

  ☀ Eyes [Pale blue, hidden behind a blindfold, varies between normal and snake eyes] ☀ Teeth [Carnivorous teeth with two large folding fangs that protrude when jaw opens wide enough.] ☀ Ears [Rounded, Human like] ☀ Body [Well kept, tanned skin with a tint of green to it]

  
  
  
  ///INDEPTH

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  ☀ Hygiene [Bathes regularly] ☀ Scars [Hardly any that can be seen] ☀ Scent [Minor reptile smell masked with perfumes made of berries] ☀ Handedness [ Left]

  ☀ Orientation [Bi-sexual with a slight male preference] ☀ Fears [Primary one is fading into obscurity or being forgotten] ☀ Alignment [Varies on the Neutral scale] ☀Age [Born 415 B.C. She's older than dirt.]

  ☀ Guilty Pleasures [Hoarding treasures for garden, putting jewelry on snakes, bathing in blood and eating raw meat on the rare occasion] ☀ Known Languages [Various Greek dialects, Various Mediterranean languages and dialects, understanding of various Arabic dialects and African dialects and common. ]

  
  

  
  
  
  
  Because she is a Gorgon, she does have specific abilities, but I have tweaked some things so it can be fair and fun for everyone. I will elaborate on this

  Here

  In lore, looking into the eyes of the gorgon turns one into stone. I believe there was one that could look at people and turn them to stone, but I am not so sure of that. Rhene works much like Medusa does in that her gaze turns people to stone if eye contact is met, though the difference between the two is that Rhene has to hold eye contact for a few moments. There is two parts to this. First paralyzation and then A bite from the snakes in her hair.. There is also the option of being turned to stone. All three of these would be talked about before hand.
  
  First off we are going to cover the Eyes of A Gorgon.
  
  She is capable of compelling others to look into their eyes if they are close enough through soothing voice and or mentally compelling them. This will use two preps. The first post a warning of some sort and the second post actively attempting. If you do stare for like.. a really long time, you're probably going to end up turned to stone, so don't do that. It'd be hard to not stare in her eyes if she succeeds.
  
  You will be asked to roll a static d20 against a static 10 that I rolled when creating her. If you meet or beat the 10, you are fine and your will was capable of resisting her compelling attempt.
  
  If you failed the will save against her compelling attempt then you will be asked to roll a static d20 for fortitude against a static 14 that was previously rolled. This is for the paralyzing gaze. You have to meet or beat 14. If you succeed, then nothing happens, but if you fail, depending on what you rolled will be how long/the status of your paralyzation.
  
  1-3 = 9 hr. Entirely paralyzed, can't make sounds and can't see.
  4-6 =7 hr Entirely paralyzed, Can barely make sounds and vision is almost entirely gone
  7-9 = 5 hr Entirely paralyzed, unable to make more than grunting sounds and vision is blurred.
  10-12 = 3 hr. Limbs are heavy, but you still are capable of slight movement and could potentially crawl away. Speech is slurred and difficult to understand.
  13= 1 hr. Not entirely paralyzed, but are vulnerable and slowed. You are capable of speech.
  
  
  If you failed, we will discuss what happens to your character, but that brings us to the next part. You Either will be turned to stone, left there, dumped somewhere else and have something stolen from you or bitten.
  
  SnakeBite
  Rhene's head contains 25 venomous snakes. Each do something different when biting. When you are bitten by one, you are asked to roll a d25 to decide what the effect is. The effect starts after the paralyzation ends, or if you are bitten while not paralyzed then the effect starts within the next two posts.
  

  Roll table

  
  1 Reroll twice and take those two effects and increase the time value with an additional [2d6] x hr or [2d4] x days
  2 Moderate/Excessive Vomiting and/or diarrhea for [roll 1d5] x hr [roll 1d3 1V 2D 3Both]
  3 Intense Night terrors for [roll 1d10] x days
  4 Loss of coordination and/or impaired walking for [roll 1d10] x hr
  5 Loss of taste for [roll 1d20] x hr
  6 Airway constriction and/or shortness of breath for [roll 1d10] x hr [roll 1d3 1AC 2SoB 3both]
  7 Reroll once and take that effect with an additional 1d5 of time added to it
  8 Sickness similar to food poisoning affects you for [roll 1d20]x hr
  9 Intense Hallucinations for [roll 1d5] x Days
  10 Vision in one eye goes out for [roll 1d20] x hr [1d # of eyes to determine which eye. Going from left to right.]
  11 Inability to focus and/or to think clearly for [roll 1d20] x hr [roll 1d3 1F 2TC 3Both]
  12 Intense prickling pain in hands and arms for [roll 1d20] x hr
  13 Intense pain when sexually aroused that is centralized around your sexual organs [roll 1d24] x hr
  14 Loss of feeling in legs for [roll 1d20] x hr
  15 Loss of sight for [roll 1d10] x hr
  16 Loss of smell for [roll 1d20] x hr
  17 Swelling Of Face/Cheeks for [roll 2d4] x days
  18 Weakness in limbs and/or exhaustion for [roll 1d24] x hr [roll 1d3 1WL 2Ex 3 Both]
  19 Fever and chills for [roll 2d4] x days
  20 Intense migraine for [roll 1d10] x hr
  21 Loss of hearing for [roll 1d20] x hr
  22 Loss of feeling in hands for [roll 1d20] x hr
  23 Bleed more for [roll 2d6] x days
  24 Itchy hives and a painful rash for [roll 1d20] x hours
  25 Seizures and black vein like markings on skin for [roll 2d4] x days

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  Being turned to stone Being turned to stone is not going to be fun for your character. If you fail the will save against her compelling you to look in her eyes and you are not paralyzed, then you will be turned to stone (Which is going to be discussed to make sure you are fine with doing that. This is intended to be fun and create a quest for others) When it starts, it will not stop and within a couple of posts your character will be turned to stone, but they will still be alive. It starts at the hands and feet and works up the body. All in all takes maybe 5 to 10 minutes for someone to be entirely turned to stone. There IS a cure for this. In lore it is said that the blood from the right side of the body of a gorgon is capable of healing pretty much anything, including DEATH, but I will be changing this up slightly because I don't want Rhene to become a 'fix everything' character. (Mainly because that is dumb and people would totally just stab her for her blood.) So instead, Blood from Rhene's right side will effectively revive someone from the petrification as well as the effects from the blood taken from her left side. It also will cure any of the ailments that her snake hair causes. The thing about this is that it is not common knowledge and Rhene is not going to offer up the secret at all, but can be convinced to revive someone from being stoned. One would have to offer her something very important to them for her to consider, mainly because if you end up turned to stone (or someone else) you likely deserved it.

  The blood We have covered that blood from the right side of her body will cure ailments that she causes, but we have not spoken of the left side. Unfortunately the blood from the left side is a poison most foul and will definitely sort of kill you. Think of it like a soft death. You're not really dead, but you sort of are according to everyone else. To a trained healer or mage you would be totally dead. You're stuck kind of like in a coma and can totally REALLY die. Though there is a way to revive you and that is by using the blood from the right side of the body. Again Rhene is not going to tell anyone this sort of thing and it is not common knowledge either. Nor is she in the market of making poisons out of her blood.

  
  Other abilities
  Omnidirectional Vision - Pretty self explanatory, due to the snakes she can see around her and it is difficult to get the drop on her because of that.
  
  Tough Skin - Her nonscaled skin is a little tougher than human skin in terms of being able to cut through or damage it. The scaled skin is far more difficult to pierce and cut through, but it still can be.
  
  Enhanced physical abilities - Pretty self explanatory
  
  Limited underwater breathing - She is capable of holding her breath from 10 to 15 minutes underwater.
  
  Bite: Outside of her 25 snakes, her own fangs function, but do not actually have a venom that is particularly deadly, instead it's more that an anticoagulant is injected directly into the wound, causing it to bleed freely. Though, this is a action that has to be triggered. All bites from her will not produce this, but all bites from her would hurt.

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  The snakes on her head provide vision for her when she is wearing a blindfold. They do this by the use of their pit organs. She sees this way as a form of blindsight, done through infrared. She see's the world sort of like this and as such, she cannot see detail in someones face, only a general idea of the shape and even then it is fuzzy. There is no color in this world and she is unable to read like this or see things like tattoos. She has okay depth perception, but there are things that she cannot see like this. Certain objects appear clear or invisible. She can however see in complete darkness, though depending on how cold a place is, it may be very difficult to navigate. She can see through un-insulated fabrics or materials, but cannot see through glass.
  
  She still is capable of turning one into stone, but it requires much more than just briefly looking into their eyes. She must have extended eye contact for quite a while before it happens. Even then it is something she does not do often or really ever. Those years are behind her more or less..
  
  Without the blindfold on she is capable of seeing quite well and has perfect vision, however it puts others at risk to be paralyzed.

• The lair of the Gorgon.

  The Sun God Ilifos. At one point in time, he was considered a great power. Potentially even able to become the great power at one point in time. But no longer. With the loss of his greatest temple, and the faith of his followers waning to the point where even the city that once which held his name no longer honors him by holding it, his position has dwindled to that of a minor deity in a world where power and status is everything.
  
  Ilifons, the city that was the seat of his power was known wide and far for its glass beads, and many such jewellery adorned with them. They were known for how they caught the light and seemed to almost glow when directly touched by the sun. This brought much wealth and prosperity to the island. Which in turn allowed his worshipers to construct a great temple in his name.
  
  This temple lay along the western coast of the island, where many oceanic caves, some underwater, some exposed at certain tide levels, and others always being exposed, all connect to a large cave network. The midpoint of the system opened to a large cavern, a massive skylight at the top of it to expose the area to Ilifos' might. The eastern cave, connecting it to the city of Ilifons, to be a safe road for worshipers to traverse between them. But this cave has long since collapsed. But this mighty opening? This was where they decided to construct this grand temple in his honour.
  
  This cave system was much brighter than one might expect, as the stone of the area was very light, and help lend Ilifos' power to reach deep into the system, the darkest parts mildly shadowy at worst. Because of the moisture in the air, how easy it was for water to catch on the stone and drip down, and the amount of indirect sunlight, this cave system was lush and vibrant, and full of life even before his followers moved in, and started shaping it into a great example of what life could be when you allow light into your heart and mind.
  
  As the central building was constructed in the center of the skylight, where Ilifos' light may bless it the most, atop it was a dias where the most important of Ilifos' rituals would take place. Its larger sister lay in the city of Ilifons, where all rituals would be held in tandem. But here, the one in the temple, was considered the greater, the more important of the two. As the rituals here, the sacrifices made here, were to purify the temple and cleanse the true followers of Ilifos and not just to protect a simple city, like the one in Ilifons.
  
  The center of this dias was a great hole, where the blood of the pure and just sacrifices to Ilifos would fall into the temple and cleanse it, to keep it pure. The room that the blood cleansed was of a singular, and most important purpose. It was so important, and so great, that the entire second floor was dedicated to it. Its purpose was to purify the impure, or to test the faith of those that have strayed, or wished to affirm their belief in Ilifos.
  
  This second floor was covered in bronze, all polished to the point of mirror perfection. The room was designed to reflect the light inward and then cast it out along the 28 windows on this floor, 7 per wall. This bright casting of light would cast throughout the cave system where the temple had been built, to signify to the followers the mid point of the day, and the height of Ilifos' power. Where one should stop, and pray, and revere him for all he had done for them. This mid day point was also when the act of purification would commence. This rite was simple: One would walk up one of the two staircases of the first floor without any of their worldly belongs, cross the room any way they thought they should, and descend the staircase on the opposite side. Any who failed to cross, whether through giving up, or through death, were considered unworthy and were exiled if they survived. Those that managed to make it, were considered worthy, and their impurities, whatever they may be were considered cleansed and they were treated as an equal.
  
  But now? Now this place had fallen to ruins. Few come here now, as it is considered cursed. And those that do come, come to cleanse the curse without fully understanding.
  
  Walls of once important structures that symbolized Ilifos, or protected his worshipers lay crumbled with age. Especially those closer to cave mouths, or where the weather might wear them harder. But not the central temple, nor the few buildings built into the rock face itself. Amongst the ruins of collapsed pillars, fallen walls, and half crumbled buildings are many statues. A great garden of them, most of which so old, and so worn by time that their features have long since been lost. Were they dancing? Were they running? It is hard to tell, as many do not even have faces anymore. At least, not the once unprotected by the few buildings still fully standing. But amongst the old, faceless statues are newer ones. Ones wearing armour and weapons. Weapons held high, faces filled with defiance or fear, it really changes depending on the statue. But the end result is the same, another statue to decorate a desolate, stone garden.
  
  The great temple, if one were to venture inside of it would be filled with many priests and priestesses. Untouched by the weather, they mostly stood in prayer. Three groups of them, with different vestments, all arranged in a singular circle. But prayer did not stop them from being added as decorations to this desolate, stone garden. The upstairs, once vibrant and reflective, now green and tarnished. The dias above it mostly crumbled, a pillar cast across the hole. Adding yet more crumbling structures to a sea of it.
  
  The most in tact structure, a section of the temple built into wall opened up to what was a sacred place where only oracles, priestesses and the like resided. Many of them still decorate the place. Still standing about. Some running. Most in prayer. But now, this place was filled with treasure. A hoard of sorts. While the majority of the people that decorated this former living quarters, the prettier of the priestesses were arranged in the central room, decorated with some of the rarest jewellery and other adornments in the hoard. There were six of these priestesses in the central room, each one standing behind a large brazier, all equally spaced around an area that looked like something great now used this area for sleeping. At one point, this central room was originally a gathering place, for the priestesses to come together and talk, but that had since changed.